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I saw it open, reinforcements coming out to help us half a dozen figures carrying a ten foot insulated shield. They could barely get it through the port. The Martian searchray vanished. Then almost instantly the electronic ray came with its deadly stab. Missed us at first, as we ran for the shield, carrying it back to the port, hiding behind it. The ray stabbed once or twice more.
The explosions from them merged in a confusion of the white glare and a cloud of black mist as the brigands out on the rocks used their darkness bombs. We swept past in a blur of leaping hostile beams. Silent battle of lights! Darkness bombs down at the ship struggling to bar our camp searchray. The Benson radiance rays from our passing platforms, curving down to mingle with the confusion.
Grantline's signal light was summoning us from the attack. He was a thousand feet or more above us. I was suddenly shocked with horror. The searchray from our camp suddenly vanished! Anita wheeled us to face the distant ledge. The camp lights showed, and over one of the buildings was a distress light! Had the crack in our front wall broken, threatening explosion of all the buildings?
Then abruptly we realized that under cover of darkness bombs, an electronic projector and searchray had been carried to the top of the crater rim, diagonally across and only half a mile from us. Their beams shot down, raking all our vicinity from this new angle. I was on the little flying platform which sallied out as a test to attack these isolated projectors.
It had been done just for that purpose, no doubt to make us feel sure the ledge was unoccupied and thus to guard against our own light making the search. But there was a brigand group close outside our walls! By the merest chance the radiating glow from our searchray had shown the helmeted figures scurrying for shelter. Grantline leaped to his feet.
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